


Chariot Child

by xenosaurus



Series: Kurusu Family Portraits [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Children, Established Relationship, First Day of School, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 05:33:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11707836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenosaurus/pseuds/xenosaurus
Summary: Akira and Ryuji pick their daughter up from her first day of school.





	Chariot Child

There is a small crowd of parents outside the elementary school.  Most of them are young mothers, which makes Akira and Ryuji stand out a bit.  Akira is still dressed for work, minus the apron, and Ryuji is wearing a t-shirt with a mechanical tyrannosaurus on it, so they'd make an odd pair even without the women for contrast.

Today has been an ordeal.  Akira has had at least eight moments of intense panic in Leblanc when he'd glanced at Rika's usual spot and found his daughter absent.  The conscious knowledge that she's at school, not kidnapped or wandering the streets, did very little to calm that response.  Ryuji had taken the day off work; they'd worried in tandem in between brewing coffee.

The end of school bell chimes and the gathered parents perk up.  Ryuji takes it a step further, pushing to the very edge of the school grounds, practically vibrating with excitement.  Akira gives the parents his boyfriend had pushed past an apologetic smile as he follows.

The swarm of school children are released, and it only takes a moment for Akira to spot Rika.  Her hair is still up in the ponytail he'd done for her that morning and she's grinning in a way that is so reminiscent of Ryuji that it makes Akira's heart ache.

"Rika-chan!" Ryuji shouts, waving with both hands.  Akira couldn't have held back a smile if he wanted to.

"Papa!"

Their six year old barrels into Ryuji with all the force her little legs can muster.  He scoops her up into his arms and she squeals with delight, hugging him tight around the neck.  It's quite a scene, and Akira can tell some of the other parents are smiling just as brightly as he is.

Rika has barely extracted her face from Ryuji's shoulder when she notices Akira standing just behind him.  She gasps with the open emotion only a child can manage.

"Dad!  I thought you had to work!" She squirms in Ryuji's arms, holding her arms out to her other father.  Akira laughs and accepts their wiggling daughter when Ryuji passes her over.  She's small for her age, so it doesn't take much bracing.

"Well, I _was_ going to work, but then your Papa suggested we go get ramen after school, and I wasn't about to miss that."

"Yes!  Way to go Papa!" Rika squirms again, but this time it's to offer her palm to Ryuji.  They high five and grin at each other. "Can we get shoyu broth?  With extra meat on top?"

Akira kisses the top of his daughter's head.  It's always a dangerous move, given how energetic she is, but worth the occasional headbutt.

"We'll get whatever you want."

"Okay, then I want cake too!"

"The last time you had cake and ramen at the same time you threw up," Akira reminds her solemnly.  Rika frowns.

"No, Dad, that was 'cause of the ice cream!  Everyone knows that you're okay as long as you only have _one_ dessert!"

"The overall size of the dessert is more important than how many types," Akira argues.

"I won't puke!  I swear!"

Akira exchanges a look with Ryuji, who shrugs.

"Alright, you can have a _small_ amount of cake," Akira agrees, already aware of how hard he's going to have to fight to keep portion sizes relatively sane.  He'd always known he'd end up the mean parent; Ryuji is way too lenient.

"Yay, cake!" Rika cheers, reaching out to high five Ryuji again.  She's a smart kid, definitely knows which parent is responsible for that particular choice.  Akira gives Ryuji a look that says 'if our daughter throws up, you're the one who has to clean up'.  It's an oddly familiar expression after the last few festivals they'd attended.  Ryuji gives him a sheepish smile that's too charming to stay upset with.

“Do you want to ride on my shoulders, Rika-chan?" Ryuji asks, which is probably intended to both distract Akira and to excite their daughter. Of course, Rika nods, holding out her arms and making grabby hands.

“Say please,” Akira reminds her.

“Please!”

It takes a bit of maneuvering to transfer her over, but this isn’t their first time at the dad rodeo. Once Rika is safely positioned on Ryuji’s shoulders, Akira puts a hand on the small of his back to guide the two of them out of the crowd. He knows they’re attracting attention, but that’s normal enough. Ryuji and Rika in the same place is always a display.

“Did you make any new friends today, Rika-chan?” Akira asks, looking up at his daughter. He’s used to the height difference that comes from stacking his two favorite people on top of one another.

“Yeah! Papa was right, all the other kids really liked my shoes! They all wanted to talk to me!”

“Hey, I know what I’m talking about, here. You can’t go wrong with light-up shoes,” Ryuji says, laughing.

“We’ll have to thank Futaba for getting them for you,” Akira says.

“Can we call her tonight? She said she wanted to hear all about my first day!”

“I’m sure she’ll call us if we don’t call her,” Ryuji sighs. Futaba is the only person that beats Ryuji on Rika’s coolness rating, thanks to her plethora of featherman toys, and he’s still sulking about it.

“You can tell her about how you’re already the boss of first grade,” Akira teases, making Rika giggle.

“I am! Satsuki from our street is in my class, though, so I have to share. We can both be the boss.”

“I didn’t see her mom outside the school, is she going to be alright getting home?” Ryuji asks.

“Yeah, her big brother goes to our school. He said I could walk home with them too, but I told him my Papa was coming to get me.”

“Did you thank him for offering?” Akira asks.

“Yep! I didn’t forget!”

“Good job, Rika-chan!” Ryuji says, and Akira steals his boyfriend’s usual move of offering their daughter a high five. She takes it, laughing.

“I’m the best at politeness!” She boasts.

“It isn’t polite to brag, sweetheart,” Akira says, trying not to laugh.

“Oh. Right. I’m _almost_ the best at politeness!”

Akira loses his battle and laughs openly. Rika beams at him, and so does Ryuji.

His whole family is constantly trying to make him laugh.

They’re sweet that way.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is [xenosaurus](http://xenosaurus.tumblr.com)!


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